Recent Productions

The Hallé Orchestra's
Own Label

It's a particular privilege to be asked by the Hallé Orchestra to produce the sessions for its new in-house label.

The orchestra is clearly in wonderful form under Mark Elder, its Music Director since September 2000.

The sessions are of remarkable concentration and passion, and the reviews (below) speak for themselves.


CD HLL 7500	CD HLL 7501	CD HLL 7502
ELGAR: Symphony No 1 in A flat	ELGAR: Enigma Variations	NIELSEN: Symphony No 5
"This is superior in almost every regard to the recent highly praised version by the LSO under Sir Colin Davis on the LSO's own label; it is far better recorded and is better conducted...The recordings, produced by Andrew Keener, are very good..." (Robert Matthew-Walker, International Record Review, June 2003) "This is a magnificent beginning for the Hallé's record label...I doubt if [the First Symphony] was ever better played [under Harty and Barbirolli] than it is here...The performance of In the South is equally resplendent." (David Cairns, Sunday Times, 13 April 2003)	"Terrific Cockaigne... production and engineering (Andrew Keener and Simon Eadon) top-notch." (Andrew Achenbach, Gramophone, July 2003) "The producer is Andrew Keener, a guarantor of sensitive recording...The Variations are given a magnificent performance. If you want to sample what Elder is achieving with the Hallé, listen to Troyte with its thunderous timpani and cutting-edge strings." (Michael Kennedy, Sunday Telegraph)	"A stupendous performance...The astonishing side-drum outburst is brilliantly recorded and played..." (Michael Kennedy, Sunday Telegraph) "...a performance of strong character and palpable dedication." (Andrew Achenbach, Gramophone, July 2003)

CD HLL 7507	CD HLL 7505
ELGAR: Symphony No 2 in E flat	ELGAR: Cello Concerto ( Heinrich Schiff); Romance for Bassoon; Falstaff
"The clear inner lines - beautifully recorded by Andrew Keener - allow the dark complexities of the first movement's development to unravel." (Stephen Pettit, London Evening Standard) "Mark Elder has emerged as an Elgar conductor of the first rank ... the sound is superlative." (Michael Kennedy, Sunday Telegraph) "A gorgeous disc, beautifully recorded, and a must for all Elgarians." (Hugh Canning, Sunday Times Classical CD of the Week, 26 September 2004) "If any more evidence were needed that the Hallé Orchestra has attained a level of excellence not heard since the Barbirolli era, this latest of its own-label discs is it." (Matthew Rye, Daily Telegraph Classics CD of the Week, 9 October 2004)	"The account of Falstaff makes a powerful case for the "symphonic study" as one of Elgar's most captivating and brilliantly inventive scores." (David Cairns, Sunday Times)

Click Here to be transported to a website dedicated to these discs

Takacs logo

The Complete
Beethoven String Quartets
played by the Takács Quartet

This Award-winning set (2003 Grammy for Early Quartets; 2005 Gramophone Award for the Late Quartets) has been greeted with universal acclaim.
Recorded in St George's Bristol with Simon Eadon engineering, these sessions are among the most rewarding I have ever produced.

"Just wanted to say thanks again for the whole project - you have transformed the way we record. It always used to be the least effective part of our game, and your handling of sessions is masterly. You always create an atmosphere which encourages one to do one's best".
Edward Dusinberre, Leader of the Takács Quartet


Decca 470 848-2	Decca 470 847-2	Decca 470 849-2
Beethoven: Early String Quartets	Beethoven: Middle String Quartets	Beethoven: Late String Quartets
	"...readings which make one think anew about this great music ... recording of the finest quality." (Penguin Guide Yearbook 2002/3) "The recorded quality is high ... this promises to be among the very finest complete Beethoven quartet cycles." (International Record Review, June 2002) *WINNER, Chamber Music category, Gramophone* Awards, 2002 WINNER, Chamber Music category, Japanese Recording Academy**	"As in the previous issues, these CDs, recorded in Bristol and produced under the unostentatious yet meticulous direction of Andrew Keener, are models of sensitive yet full-blooded chamber music-making." (International Record Review, February 2005) "This performance (Grosse Fuge) is the climax of a superlative set that all lovers of this sublime music will want to acquire." Hugh Canning, Sunday Times Classical CD of the Week, 23 January 2005) "Probably the finest modern set of these great quartets." (Stephen Johnson, BBC Music Magazine, March 2005)

Click Here for more about the Takács Quartet

Further Recent Productions
	TCHAIKOVSKY: Violin Concerto, etc. (Joshua Bell/Berlin Philharmonic Orchestra/Michael Tilson Thomas) Sony Classical Engineer: Arne Akselberg "Makes me wish I'd been there." (Andrew McGregor, CD Review, BBC Radio 3)
	RACHMANINOV: Piano Concertos/Paganini Rhapsody (Stephen Hough/Dallas Symphony Orchestra/Andrew Litton Hyperion Engineer: Jeff Mee "You always bring with you that air of the 'special' to your work and your ease of demeanor is universally admired in my orchestra." (Emanuel Borok, Concertmaster, Dallas Symphony Orchestra) "As fine as anything Hough has done on disc to date." (Andrew Clements, The Guardian) "... no recordings of the concertos have the sonic allure of these, recorded live in concert at Dallas' Meyerson Center by top producer Andrew Keener." (Bradley Bambarger, NJ.com, December 2004)
	BEETHOVEN: Symphony No. 6 (Pastoral); Leonora Overtures 1-3 (Swedish Chamber Orchestra/Thomas Dausgaard) Simax Engineers: Geoff Miles & Andrew Hallifax "A large part of the success of this release must go to the recording team led by Andrew Keener." (Laurence Vittes, Audiophile Audition)
	MAHLER: (arr. Erwin Stein): Symphony No. 4 in G major (Manchester Camerata/Douglas Boyd) Avie Engineer: Simon Eadon "Andrew Keener's production is the crispest, most immediate the score has received on disc." (David Gutman, The Gramophone, August 2005)
THREE WINNERS at the 2002 GRAMOPHONE AWARDS
	SAINT-SAËNS: The Complete Works for Piano and Orchestra (Stephen Hough/City of Birmingham Symphony Orchestra/Sakari Oramo) *Hyperion* Engineers: Tony Faulkner & Mike Clements *RECORD OF THE YEAR, Gramophone* Awards, 2002** "...demonstration sound quality." (Penguin Guide Yearbook 2002/3)
	BEETHOVEN: String Quartets, "Razumovsky" Op 59, 1-3; "Harp" Op 74 (Takács Quartet) *Decca* Engineer: Simon Eadon WINNER, Chamber Music category, Gramophone Awards, 2002 WINNER, Chamber Music category, Japanese Recording Academy "...readings which make one think anew about this great music ... recording of the finest quality." (Penguin Guide Yearbook 2002/3) "The recorded quality is high ... this promises to be among the very finest complete Beethoven quartet cycles." (International Record Review, June 2002)
	CHAMINADE: Songs and Music for Two Pianos (Anne Sofie von Otter, mezzo-soprano/Bengt Forsberg, piano/Peter Jablonski, piano) *Deutsche Grammophon* Engineer: Andrew Wedman *WINNER, Vocal Music category, Gramophone* Awards, 2002** "A totally entrancing CD from two of the greatest explorers of repertory." (Gramophone, February 2002)
Other Recent Productions
	MOZART: Two Piano Quartets (Paul Lewis and the Leopold String Trio) *Hyperion* Engineer: Simon Eadon "When these musicians played these quartets at the 2000 Edinburgh Festival, I wrote that 'every bar sounded fresh-minted in the hands of these wonderful young artists...'. Almost four years on, their performances retain the same youthful freshness." (Hugh Canning, Sunday Times, 18 May 2003)
	BEETHOVEN and MENDELSSOHN: Violin Concertos (Joshua Bell/Camerata Salzburg/Sir Roger Norrington) *Sony Classical* Engineer: Arne Akselberg "A strong, distinctive reading." (Penguin Guide Yearbook, 2002)
	MESSIAEN: Vingt Regards sur l'Enfant- Jésus (Steven Osborne, piano) *Hyperion* Engineer: Tony Faulkner Critics' Choice 2002, Gramophone "Hyperion's presentation, like the recorded sound, complements Osborne's magnificent grasp of the music." (International Record Review, November, 2002) "The recording is ideally responsive to the sheer range of sound that [Osborne] draws from the instrument." (Gramophone, October, 2002)
	SCHUBERT: Piano Trio in E flat major, D929 (The Florestan Trio) *Hyperion* Engineer: Tony Faulkner "Another superb performance ... as before, the recording is completely lifelike and well balanced." (Gramophone, November, 2002)
	BEETHOVEN: Piano Concertos 1 and 2 (Boris Berezovsky/Swedish Chamber Orchestra/Thomas Dausgaard) *Simax Classics* Engineer: Erik Gard Amundsen "The recordings are beautifully focussed and refined and I can scarcely wait to hear this superlative young pianist and his warmly sympathetic companions in music-making in the three remaining concertos." (Gramophone, July 2001) "The recording is gorgeous: beautifully balanced, wide in range and utterly natural in timbre." (International Record Review, July/Aug 2001)
	BRAHMS: The Four Symphonies (Chamber Orchestra of Europe/Paavo Berglund) *Ondine* Engineer: Eberhard Sengpiel I produced these recordings in Baden-Baden, Germany, half way through the COE's spring 2000 tour. The size of orchestra is similar to that with which Brahms would have been familiar in Meiningen. In Baden-Baden we recorded 'live', with just a single day (scarily intense but stimulating!) after the two concerts to 'patch' all four works. A review by the Gramophone follows -
	BRAHMS: The Four Symphonies (Chamber Orchestra of Europe/Paavo Berglund) *Ondine* Review: "A good example [of this set's care for balance] occurs at around 4'58" in the first movement of the First Symphony, where rising cellos soar above descending staccato violins. When the process is reversed a few bars later, you can actually hear the change in perspective, which scotches any notion that it's all been manipulated from the recording console (not that producer Andrew Keener would ever countenance such a thing!)." (Gramophone, August 2001)
	HOLST: The Planets: Pluto (Colin Matthews/Women of the Hallé Choir/Hallé Orchestra/Mark Elder) *Hyperion* Engineer: Tony Faulkner This premier recording of Colin Matthews' imaginative addition to Holst's suite was recorded in Manchester's Bridgewater Hall by the orchestra which commissioned the work. "...this has few rivals as a performance, even fewer in terms of outstanding natural sound." (International Record Review, June 2001)
	BACH: Keyboard concertos, Goldberg Variations (Anthony Molinaro/Academy of St Martin-in-the-Fields/Andrew Litton) *AMD* Engineer: Arne Akselberg These sessions, at Abbey Road Studios late in 2000, were an ear-opener for me. Equally at home in jazz, romantic and classical piano music, Molinaro presents Bach as a vital force, abounding in strongly projected counterpoint and rhythmic strength. Refreshing.
	ELEGY: Encores for violin & piano (Diana Yukawa/Nigel Clayton) *RCA* Engineer: Arne Akselberg This talented 14 year old Anglo-Japanese violinist, whose father died in the terrible crash of Flight JAL 123 a month before she was born, here makes her debut recording. "Her intonation is remarkably fine ... gorgeous sound." (International Record Review, July/Aug 2001)
	GODOWSKY: Etudes after Chopin (Marc-André Hamelin, piano) *Hyperion* Engineer: Tony Faulkner Winner in the Instrumental category, 2000 Gramophone Awards "Enjoyable sound, too: Tony Faulkner working with producer Andrew Keener" (International Record Review, December 2000) - "The best of the Year". (This recording was chosen by three other of the magazine's critics in the same "Best of the Year" section).
	STANFORD: Violin Concerto in D, Op. 74; Suite for violin & orchestra, Op 32 (Anthony Marwood/BBC Scottish Symphony Orchestra/Martyn Brabbins) *Hyperion* Engineer: Tony Faulkner "Hats off... to the production team who balance warmth and clarity to perfection" (International Record Review, January 2001) "...and a recording that is both clean and spacious". (Gramophone, February2001)
	BRUCKNER: Symphony no, 3 (BBC Scottish Symphony Orchestra/Osmo Vänskä) *Hyperion* Engineer: Tony Faulkner "The recording, too, is very fine, spacious yet focused with the acoustic of St Mary's Church Haddington, East Lothian, capable of accommodating both gauntness and warmth". (Gramophone, February 2001) "Superbly recorded with a wide, though realistic, dynamic range, this is an account to recommend alongside Haitink..." (International Record Review, December 2000)